The District of California: Finding O.C. in D.C.

The bronze statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in the Rotunda of the Capitol. DAVID HOOD , DAVID HOOD, STAFF

No step unrewarded

Keep an eye out for great quotes on big monuments, such as "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." – Thomas Jefferson.

WASHINGTON – Orange County may be 2,700 miles from Washington, D.C., but the region’s imprint is all over town.

You can see it in the face of Father Junipero Serra in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol, or in the coppery sheen of the Apollo 11 Command Module at the National Air & Space Museum, or even in the single In-N-Out Burger placemat at the National Museum of American History.

If you’re visiting D.C. in August, your local congressional representatives likely won’t be here -- they will be back in the district they serve as Congress takes a five-week recess. But, you will find plenty of reminders of the entrepreneurs, politicians, film makers and others who have made noteworthy and sometimes remarkable contributions to American life. And, you will see somber reminders of Southern Californians who gave everything to defend their country.

Here are a few of those places and people, with some tips for navigating what can be one of the most confusing cities to get around in, anywhere. All museums are free to the visiting public.

National Air and Space Museum

When you walk through “Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall,” you might feel curiously at home, given the deep history of aviation in the Golden State. Boeing has more than 18,000 current employees in California and 51,000 retirees. The design, engineering and construction work of those aerospace workers and many others is on full display here.

Front and center in the Hall is the Command Module Columbia that carried Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon this month 45 years ago.

The Saturn V rocket’s second stage, which propelled the trio into space, was constructed in the tall gray buildings at North American Rockwell’s Seal Beach facility, still visible from the I-405. North American Rockwell, which became part of Boeing, also built the command and service modules.

Other SoCal aviation connections:

• Donald Douglas’ DC-3 propeller-driven plane, which revolutionized the airline industry in the 1930s and 1940s. The company was founded in Santa Monica and expanded into Long Beach and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft Corp.

• A P-51D Mustang fighter plane, which many consider the best piston-engine fighter of World War II, was built by North American Aviation, Inglewood, in 1945.

• The supersonic F-104 Starfighter, built by Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Burbank, served the U.S. Air Force from 1958 until 1969. It was known as “the missile with a man in it.”

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The bronze statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in the Rotunda of the Capitol. DAVID HOOD , DAVID HOOD, STAFF
Visitors gather around the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia that carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on their historic voyage to the moon and back in July 1969 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. , MANUEL BALCE CENETA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
This “spider bowl,” linked to the Chumash tribe of Southern California, dates to 1935 and is displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of the Native Indian. DAVID HOOD , DAVID HOOD, STAFF
This In-N-Out Burger “lap mat” is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. to show a period in the development of the fast food industry. DAVID HOOD, , STAFF WRITER
Douglas Aircraft Co.'s DC-3, which revolutionized the airline industry in the 1930s and 1940s, hangs in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington. CATHY TAYLOR , CATHY TAYLOR, STAFF
Orson Welles signed this legal document that explains the purpose and role of the sled “Rosebud” in his 1941 classic movie, Citizen Kane. National Archives in Washington, D.C., July 23, 2014. COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Father Junipero Serra, founder of California's missions, is one of two statues commemorating California in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. COURTESY OF THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL
A vintage placemat from Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger is on exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. July 22, 2014. CATHY TAYLOR, STAFF
These early drawings of Mickey and Minnie Mouse by Walt Disney are part of a legal document defending the copyright of the cartoon characters against a similarly drawn couple. The image is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
President Richard M. Nixon's Aug. 9, 1974 letter of resignation. COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.
This reel-to-reel tape recorder is from the White House days when Richard Nixon, like other presidents before him, recorded conversations in the building. It is on display at the National Archives. CATHY TAYLOR , CATHY TAYLOR, STAFF
The P-51D Mustang fighter plane was built by North American Aviation in Inglewood, now on display at the Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. CATHY TAYLOR, STAFF
The bronze statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in the Rotunda of the Capitol. It has a strip of the Berlin wall along the top of the pedestal to commemorate his famous 1987 speech calling for the wall to be torn down. DAVID HOOD, , STAFF WRITER
The statue of Father Junipero Serra, founder of the California missions, is among 37 other statues in Statuary Hall in the Capitol. The statue was given to the collection in 1931. DAVID HOOD , DAVID HOOD, STAFF
Part of a Santa Cruz, Calif. train that once traveled cross country now sits on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Model conductors and train workers stand by to show what it would have looked like in 1876. DAVID HOOD, , STAFF WRITER

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